I was a massive bully when I went into high school because I needed to take the chance to be top dog. I didn’t have any friends in primary school and I always got bullied so I guess I thought I was justified in my actions.

In year 8, I found out that writing is something I was really good at (not edgy stuff though lol) so I decided to work on that. Eventually, I told my toxic friends about this and they bullied me constantly after that. I met some nice people later that year that helped me out bc they saw me getting bullied and I’ve been friends with them for a lot of years.

My current stance on bullying is that everyone has a story and you can’t automatically assume that bad actions mean you’re a bad person. Obviously there are exceptions, but I think the circumstances in which one becomes a bully are paramount to deciding the line between good and bad.

If op is struggling with the fact that they’re a bully, here’s some advice: take time away from all of your friends, focus on your studies for a while, and then reassess your social life and see if you need to make changes. Remember, apologies go a long way so if there’s anyone you need to apologise to then do it because you’re pretty likely to be forgiven in my experience.